precede in WordNet English dictionary

1. be earlier in time; go back further
   "Stone tools precede bronze tools"
   predate  precede  forego  forgo  antecede  antedate 
   
2. be the predecessor of
   "Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan's husbands"
   precede  come before 
   
3. furnish with a preface or introduction
   "She always precedes her lectures with a joke"; "He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution"
   precede  preface  premise  introduce 
   
4. move ahead (of others) in time or space
   precede  lead 
   
5. come before
   "Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify"
   precede  predate